Regional surveillance of accident and emergency department attendances: Experiences from the West Midlands

Abstract

Information is collected on every patient that attends accident and emergency (A&E). However, there is currently no central collection of these data. In 1999 it was decided to collect data on all A&E attendances in the West Midlands region. All 21 hospitals with 24 h A&E departments were asked to submit data to the Surveillance Centre at the University of Birmingham. To date, 19 hospitals have submitted data but the formats vary leading to a substantial amount of data processing. There are several limitations to the data set, for example a lack of information on the reasons for attendance. Despite this, routinely collected A&E data have great potential for surveillance and the data have been used in original research and to guide local policy. The West Midlands system is the largest source of A&E data in the United Kingdom. This information is of use to a wide range of organizations. © The Author 2005, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved.